Denial

I don't do a lot of active classic video game collecting any more. Mostly because I collected the stuff I was really interested in during the 1990s. Also because I don't like the way retro-video gaming has become pricey and competitive. When I first started buying classic video games, cartridges went for 50 cents each and I was collecting to play all those games I had wanted as a kid, not to re-sell for a profit.

I do visit one local thrift store quite a bit though - as it's on the way home from work - just to see what's new.

Today I was surprised when, upon entering the thrift store, I saw a shelf full of Atari 2600 games (about 50). A quick glance told me there were a few titles I didn't have already. It's been years since I've seen anything retro-gaming related for sale there!

I reached out to the shelf and picked one up that I didn't have. Great!

The fellow beside me glanced up from his smart phone.

I tried to pick up a second cartridge. When my finger was literally on it, a hand darted out and took the entire stack. It was phone-man. Oops, thought I, we must have mistakenly reached for the same game! So, trying to be polite, I conceded and withdrew my hand.

I went around phone-man, to the other side of the shelf and tried to pick up another cartridge that looked interesting. He did the exact same thing. He put his finger over the cartridge just as I was about to pick it out, then when I withdrew, he grabbed the whole stack.

I then realised that he was watching me with the intent of snatching each entire pile just before I could get it. His behaviour now made sense to me. He had been going through the cartridges one by one, checking their value on the internet. Now that someone else was interested he didn't want to share. He didn't even want all the cartridges he was grabbing. He just wanted to make sure I couldn't get them before he could assess their value (later, from a corner of the store where he was conducting an inventory on his hoard, I heard him exclaim "this one's worth twenty dollars!").

I walked away for a moment, but unfortunately grew annoyed. I returned to the shelf and put the remaining cartridges (mostly commons) in my shopping cart so that he couldn't play this game anymore. I then went to peruse the rest of the store. My intention was to put all the cartridges back on the shelf after phone-man had left.

He actually sent his kid to walk past my shopping cart several times in order to see if I had anything good stashed in there. After fifteen minutes, he sent his wife over with the cartridges he didn't want (mostly common games) to offer them to me for the one rare cartridge I had managed to pick up before he could grab it. I didn't need anything in her pile so no deal was struck.

After he left the store, I put all of the cartridges back on the shelf except the one I didn't have in my collection. I noticed that his wife had already put back the ones she had offered me.

There was a bit of justice: it turns out that the one cartridge he didn't prevent me from picking up was the rarest of the bunch. However, I don't feel particularly proud of that small victory. I suppose I shouldn't complain - first come, first serve, right? I only feel bad that I let myself get annoyed enough to descend to his level in the "game grab". That's not what this hobby should be about!

I feel your pain, I get the same thing all the time. I wish someone would invent a "phone jammer" so these jerks can't use their phones while I'm near them.

In a strange way your tale of encountering more jerks like this makes me feel a little better. I'll take it less personally and accept that this is a "type" of person that exists - a classic video game buzzard. I can learn to avoid these people or work around them.

This was the first one I've encountered, so his behaviour was a little shocking to me.

Did you read on lemon64.com about the guy bragging that he bought a donated to charity sale for 5gbp a boxed and working silver label c64. He sold it in the end for about 400 gbp. It made me mad. Not for the fact he made a big profit on it and didn't give it back to the charity he "stole it from", but more the cheek he had about bragging afterwards.

The stores themselves are already using ebay as an indicator on price anyway. When I sold some games just recently that was how they made an offer.

malcontent wrote:The stores themselves are already using ebay as an indicator on price anyway. When I sold some games just recently that was how they made an offer.

Not sure I understand. You're saying you sold some games to a Thrift store and they checked eBay to make you an offer on their worth?

@ral-clan
With the family involved, this is almost organized crime.

There are shoplifter families that were caught and arrested after a couple of large stores were affected and private investigators were hired.

Although not directly criminal, this modus operandi involves a form of blackmailing. The people involved should be photographed and/or video recorded and published on youtube.

ral-clan wrote:

malcontent wrote:The stores themselves are already using ebay as an indicator on price anyway. When I sold some games just recently that was how they made an offer.

Not sure I understand. You're saying you sold some games to a Thrift store and they checked eBay to make you an offer on their worth?

It's more a question of them seeing a VCS for £60 on eBay and asking the same for a donated VCS. The charity shops/thrift stores have ceased to be a good place for bargains - most of the time, the only stuff you'll find are the things that are too common to sell on eBay or if something good does come up it instantly gets an eBay price tag (usually whatever the BIN men are asking).

Oh, yeah. I'll agree with that. Thrift store prices have gone up 1000% since I started collecting --- and eBay definitely has definitely inflated the prices on classic video game items.